North Korea

CPJ may have raised some eyebrows with this year's list of
the world's 10 most
censored countries. North Korea was relegated to the number two slot,
behind Eritrea. In our last ranking, in 2006,
we ranked North Korea as the worst, and many other organizations continue to do
that.

One big reason for the Internet's success is its role as a
universal standard, interoperable across the world. The data packets that leave
your computer in Botswana are the same as those which arrive in Barbados. The
same is increasingly true of modern mobile networks. Standards are converging: You can use your phone, access an app, or send a text, wherever you are.

China didn't make the cut for our 10 most censored countries. While the Chinese
Communist Party's censorship
apparatus is notorious, journalists and Internet users work hard to overcome
the restrictions. Nations like Eritrea and North Korea lack that dynamism.

Here's a quick pointer to Rimjin-gang,
my favorite website delivering current reporting from North Korea. Produced by Japan-based
Asia
Press Network, Rimjin-gang is also
just about the only site producing news from one of the world's most censored
nations.

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The latest batch of reporting--writing, photography, and
video--from North Korea is available online at Asia Press Network (APN). The stories deal
with apparent hyperinflation, the emergence of street markets in Pyongyang, and the
reported reduction of rations for military personnel. They're the sort of
stories you seldom see out of North Korea that give depth to the well-covered
military and diplomatic maneuvers across the Korean Peninsula's Demilitarized
Zone.

The news headlines in the last few weeks have been full of
stories of how DOS attacks can bring down even high-profile
websites, often with relatively little technical expertise on
behalf of the attackers. Such attacks are nothing new to online
journalists across the world, however. Just this year, CPJ has
dealt with cases of independent news sites being taken offline by
remote Internet attacks in
China,
Burma,
Vietnam,
Russia,
Kazakhstan, and now
Belarus.

The Berkman Center's report details over three hundred other
cases from 1998 onwards, from Sweden to North Korea. More important, the researchers
interviewed the victims of these attacks, and categorized what
defenses were practical and effective -- and what did not work.

If you're an online journalist with powerful opponents, I'd
strongly encourage you to read this document and pass it along to
your tech-savvy associates. Even a small amount of preparation can
help keep vital news and opinion available online when you -- and
your readers -- most need it.

December 21, 2010 3:31 PM ET

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A book named Rimjin-gang--News from Inside North
Korea just became available. It's a compilation of years of
reporting by a group of about 12 North Koreans using video and still cameras to
record everyday life in North Korea. The title comes from the Rimjin River
(Imjin in English), which forms part of the Demilitarized Zone that separates
North and South Korea. Japanese and Korean readers have been able to read the Rimjin-gang magazine since 2007.

Ishimaru Jiro, Rimjingang's editor and publisher, is the driving force behind organizing a group of North Koreans, to whom he gave video and still cameras. He works with Asia Press, a cooperative started in Japan in 1987 to foster independent journalism in Asia.

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The Korea Times documents the disturbing increase in censorship of writing about North Korea, with the police forcing website operators to remove 42,787 pro-North Korean comments. This may be due to an increase in North Korean government attempts to enter the online debate, but some point to the general anti-Net sentiment of the Lee administration.

Oh Chang-ik, director of the Citizens Solidarity for Human Rights, defined the sudden surge of censorship as "post trauma" of the Lee administration following nationwide candlelight vigils against U.S. beef imports in 2008.

This is one of the risks when "the Internet" is characterized as the medium of choice of one political group over another. Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, was seen as the Net-enabled President; the Lee administration has been far more sceptical of online publications, and concerned about their affects on local and international politics. Such an increase in control can't be good for the freedom of the Korean press online.

September 11, 2010 4:40 AM ET

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Current TV journalists Laura
Ling and Euna Lee were arrested by North Korean police on March 17 for
allegedly entering the country illegally and carrying out "hostile acts."
In June, they were sentenced
to 12 years' hard labor. Now back in the U.S.
after receiving a pardon,
the two are telling their story on Current.com, describing what happened that night on the border
between China and North Korea:

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CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon is one of four diverse voices featured on The New York Times "Room for Debate" blog. The debate centers on the risk of venturing into dangerous territories, whether for recreation or journalism. You can read Simon's take on the Times' Web site.